


You Can't Tell Anyone

by PrinceSircastic



Category: Friday Night Lights
Genre: Billy's a protective older brother, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2013-09-15
Packaged: 2017-12-26 15:58:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/967848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinceSircastic/pseuds/PrinceSircastic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something's up with Tim, and Billy thinks it has something to do with the guy who moved in across the street.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can't Tell Anyone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [isaytheenay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/isaytheenay/gifts).



> This is the first FNL fic I've written, so I'm still getting a handle on the characters. It's also set at/towards the end of season two.

It all starts with a new shirt, and the new neighbour across the street. 

Billy reckons he knows every single shirt Tim owns, so he knows this one is new. It even looks new, and not much like the well-worn ones strewn all over Timmy's room. He's not quite sure why the new shirt has unsettled him, but something tells him it's got a little something to do with the new neighbour who'd moved in across the street a couple of weeks ago. 

He's never seen Tim take to a guy this fast, but he supposes he doesn't know as much about his brother as he should. Billy's not seen much of him all things considered, and he really only knows the guy's name because Timmy won't shut up about him – it's always 'Hugh said this' or 'Hugh said that' and 'Hugh's got a sweet bike that handles like a beauty' and Billy takes a moment to wonder when the hell Tim ever rode a motorbike. 

He doesn't say anything, not at first, because if there's one thing Timmy needs it's more friends, better friends, friends who aren't on the team and don't fuck up his truck when they're pissed at him, and besides this Hugh guy doesn't seem so bad and if it gets Tim out of the house with something that isn't booze or football maybe that's a good thing. He loves his little brother, he does, but he can't help thinking that he needs a little more in his life before he really does go downhill, fast. 

But then Tim walks through the door in that new shirt and his usual brooding expression is nowhere in sight and Billy knows something is up because Tim rarely smiles unless he's chatting up a girl or winning a game or he's got a beer in his hand. He does consider the possibility that he's been out with a girl but Tim doesn't really do dates and he certainly wouldn't fork out for a nice new shirt that looks like it might have been expensive, but that's the smile of a man in a good mood and he can't think of why that might be. 

Billy watches him from the sofa as he wanders through the house to the fridge and grabs a beer, and at least that's something familiar and normal that Billy can focus on because Tim's been acting a little strange lately and anything close to regular old Timmy is comforting. It doesn't look like Tim's gonna speak so Billy know he's gotta start this conversation if he wants to get to the bottom of it. 

"Hot date?" It's the first thing he can think of that wouldn't arouse suspicion and the quirk of Timmy's lips reminds him of the cocky little smile the little bastard gets when he lands a good line on a chick. 

"You jealous?" Tim's gone on the defensive, Billy can hear it in his voice despite the smile, and that only waters the roots of suspicion already growing. "Why do you care, anyway?" 

"I can't pay interest in my little brother's life now?" Billy challenges, knowing it'll work Tim up and maybe loosen his tongue a little because if there's something Tim can't resist, it's a chance to get one up on him. They have a typical sibling relationship, all things considered, even if they started out poorly and handle difficult situations even worse. 

"Whatever, Billy." He's shrugged off now, and Tim starts to head for his bedroom, and so Billy pushes up from the sofa and cuts across him with the pretence of fetching another beer for himself. Now that they're closer Billy learns two things about his brother – one, he smells of cologne and not of alcohol and two, he's got a hickey poorly hidden by his collar and his lips are kiss-bruised. Definitely something not quite right. It's not a cologne Billy recognises and he's sure Tim has a limited choice stashed away in lord knows where, and he hasn't seen marks like that on his brother since before he broke up with Tyra. 

"What's goin' on, Timmy?" Scooting around the subject isn't going to work, Billy sees that now, so it's better to just confront him and hope it doesn't end in a fight, though that's almost inevitable. "You hidin' another girl?" 

"That's none of your business, is it?" He's still defensive, and there's aggression now too, the kind of aggression that Billy knows will end up in one of them throwing the first punch. Billy wants to argue that of course it's his business if it's gonna get him into more trouble, but he knows that re-opening old wounds isn't going to do him any favours, so he lets it drop. For now. 

But he's gonna keep on eye on his brother for a while, and he's gonna get to the bottom of this one way or the other. 

\-- 

He doesn't have to wait long before he gets the first piece of the puzzle. 

The first glimpse he gets out the window is of Timmy straddling a motorbike across the street, looking as if he were _meant_ to be sat astride one, and he doesn't think much of it, but then he looks again and he notices that Timmy's not alone. The neighbour – Hugh, he reminds himself though it's not like he could forget – is stood at Timmy's side, leaning over him as he gestures at various parts of the bike. 

Billy supposes it's innocent enough, just a guy talking to another guy about a bike and that's definitely nothing irregular, and if you don't look too hard that's all you'd see – but Billy's looking real hard and he thinks Hugh's a little closer than he should be and his hand is definitely too low on Timmy's back for it to be a friendly touch and nothing more and Billy's starting to wonder if he needs to have a talk with his brother, though it's not a talk he knows how to have. 

He's still watching when Timmy dismounts the bike and Hugh rests his hand so low on his back that for a moment Billy thinks he's going for his ass instead, and he wonders if they weren't in such a public place then maybe that's what would have happened. He ducks away from the window when Timmy moves away and heads back over the street towards the house, and drops himself onto the sofa just as he hears the door begin to open. He's got no idea how to even start a conversation like that and he needs time for it to sink in so he knows he won't blow up and say the wrong thing. The last thing he wants is to see Timmy walk out the door again. 

It's a touchy enough subject as it is, and Billy remembers all too vividly what happened the last time Timmy got involved with a neighbour and he definitely doesn't want it to go that route again. He might never show it but Billy remembers the look on Timmy's face when he found out he was sleeping with Jackie, and he's actually a little ashamed for it. His brother might have the town thinking he's happy just sleeping around but Billy knows how easy Timmy can get hurt. 

He still hasn't worked out how to approach Timmy when Hugh knocks on the door a couple of days later looking for him, and Billy knows he shouldn't be feeling protective like this but he doesn't even want Hugh on the doorstep and he certainly doesn't want him coming inside, but he knows Tim's passed out in bed and he shouldn't leave Hugh standing there while he goes to wake him up. But that's exactly what he does and he doesn't care if it's a problem. 

He watches from the kitchen as Tim speaks to him, makes a note of how Tim leans against the doorframe as if he were flirting with a pretty girl, and he knows then that he definitely needs to have _that_ conversation with his brother and it needs to be soon. When Tim steps outside and makes his way across the street, Billy tries not to think about what his brother is doing over there. 

There's no chance to talk after that because there's a game on and Billy doesn't want anything to fuck up Timmy's game, so he waits until his brother stumbles home half-drunk from the celebratory party before he even considers bringing up the subject. Timmy's in a good mood so that helps the situation already, and when Billy presents him with a cold beer he takes it with a grin that Billy's really glad to see on his face. Timmy definitely spends far too much time scowling and brooding. 

"Is there something you wanna tell me, Tim?" He opens in a casual tone, knowing that if he outright accuses Tim of something it'll just work against him. He knows how his brother works, what pushes the right buttons and what pushes the wrong ones, too. He watches Tim's grin falter only a little, and he hides it by taking a swig of his beer. 

"Like what?" 

"Like what's goin' on with you and our neighbour." He's blunt because Tim can't hide from something thrown in his face like that, and Billy knows he'll get tired of skirting around the subject before too long. 

"What, I can't talk to our neighbours now?" Tim's shaking his head and knocking back the beer, and Billy's not gonna let him get away from this conversation now it's started. 

"You know what I'm talking about, Tim." He slides onto a stool, and watches Tim from across the counter. Tim looks as though he's gonna make an excuse or a snide remark and disappear before it comes to blows, but then he surprises Billy by sighing and circling around the counter to sit beside him. 

"You can't tell anyone, Billy." 

And that's how Billy Riggins found out his little brother wasn't just into chicks. 

\-- 

Now that Billy knows, he's seeing a lot more of Hugh than before. He's still not entirely comfortable with the situation – he doesn't care that Hugh's a guy, not if his brother actually looks happy for once, but it's a lot to take in and he can't help remembering what happened the last time Timmy got involved with someone older than he is – but he doesn't say a word because he knows how important it is for his brother. 

He's slowly getting used to walking through the door and watching Timmy jerk away from Hugh on the sofa, hurriedly straightening his clothes and trying to act like he wasn't about to fuck him right then and there. It's weird, because Timmy's never really been embarrassed about getting caught fooling around, but he supposes it's different now that it's a guy. 

It turns out that Hugh's actually a pretty decent guy and Billy shares some great conversations with him over a couple of beers. He even finds Billy a job that he thinks he'll manage to keep for longer than six months, and when Timmy needs a new part for his truck the money isn't a problem. He goes to every game without fail, and he's always waiting when Timmy comes home from a party. He doesn't try and change him, doesn't stop him from doing what Tim does best, and the only change Billy's noticed – other than the fact he's not sleeping with whichever girl he gets to first – is that Timmy's happy, really happy. 

Billy thinks that's why he's handling this so well, because all he ever really wants is for Tim to be happy. He might fight with him, might come to literal blows over the most ridiculous things, but in the end Timmy's still his little brother and he loves him. He failed to shelter him from the hell that was their family life, failed to protect him from their disappointing father, and he remembers with a fair amount of guilt how he hadn't even wanted Tim around at the start. He hadn't wanted to be stuck with a teenage brother who wore too many bruises even for a football player, and drank too much even for someone legal – but it was also because he'd had no faith in himself as a suitable role model and he was too afraid of turning into their father. 

Well, their dad certainly wouldn't have been okay with Tim sleeping with a guy, and he'd sooner shoot the guy than let him in the house, and let him sleep in Tim's bed with him. 

And Billy certainly wouldn't beat the hell out of a damn kid just for being the way he is. 

He's watching them now – we'll he's trying not to, but they're right there and part of him still wants to make sure everything's alright – and Tim's saying goodnight although it's obvious he wants nothing more than to drag Hugh to his bedroom and get him naked. Billy tries not to think about that too much. Hugh spares him a glance before he leans in for a goodnight kiss, and Billy averts his eyes and suddenly finds a magazine very interesting, but he can't help peering over the top of the pages at them. 

A single kiss can say a lot, and Billy can tell a lot from this one. He knows Hugh isn't going anywhere any time soon, and that he cares for Tim much more than Billy gives him credit for. He knows Hugh will take care of him, and keep him happy, and it's in that moment that Billy finally imagines a future for Tim that doesn't end up with him stuck in a low-paying job and living with another meth dealer. 

If the time ever comes when Billy gets a chance to move on with his own life, he knows Tim will be left in the capable, loving hands of someone who'll look after him and treat him right. 

And that's all Billy ever wants for his little brother.


End file.
